Solarian League Navy
The Solarian League Navy was the main naval force for the Solarian League. Ships of the SLN used the prefix SLNS. The uniforms of the SLN were white. (SI2) History * The SLN enforced the Eridani Edict five times since 1410 PD. (HH8) * The last war the Battle Fleet was involved occured three hunders years before the First Manticoran-Havenite Warthat war was waged on much smaller area than Manticoran-Havenite war. (HH8, infodump) * No one had destroyed a Solarian warship in combat in almost three centuries. (SI2) * The Battle of Farley's Crossing, the last major battle of the Solarian League Navy (its Frontier Fleet in fact), happend approximately a little less than two centuries ago before beginning of twentieth century PD. (HH7) * Nobody defeated a Solarian heavy cruiser in open battle in over half a century until 1918 PD, and nobody ever beaten four of them at once, with a single vessel of any kind short of a dreadnought. (WS1) Organization Its main feature concerning with organization was formalised division into the Battle Fleet, and the Frontier Fleet. (SI1, SI2, infodump) Command The superior position within the SLN was its chief of naval operations. The SLN supreme command was the Central Staff. Part of the Central Staff or the Ministry of Defencechief of naval operations acted a Minister of Defence's deputy in fact were the Office of Naval Intelligence and the Office of Operational Analysis. (WS1, SI2) Battle Fleet The Battle Fleet comprised of ships of wall. Vast majority of them were superdreadnoughts, there were some relatively modern dreadnoughts also. The Battle Fleet was senior branch, so its commanding officers were entiteled to subjugate the Frontier Fleet units. Frontier Fleet The Frontier Fleet comprised of light units, no stronger than battlecruiser. The SLN had a higher percentage of light units than the RMN or the People's Navy, because it was charged with anti-piracy operations and supporting the Solarian Gendarmerie and the Office of Frontier Securityas well as other bureaucratic institutions operating along the fringes of the League (infodump). Reserve Mothballed reserve generalally consisted of superdreadnoughtsthe enormous majority of hullsThere were the majority of Solarian dreadnoughts alsoless modern units, as well as battlecruisers and cruisers. Number of screening elements there was nowhere near what mothballed ships of wall would require in the event of all out hostilities. Thus it were the Frontier Fleet units planned to screen the Battle Fleet. Self Defence Forces The Self Defence Forces of the Solarian League members technically were part of the SLN during the war or state of emergency. The SDFs provided the bulk of the light forces required to prevent outbreaks of piracy in their own areas, and may be tasked by the SLNwith the "owning" government concurrence to extend their activities to neighbouring member systems with no SDFs. Some SDFs were as big as the RMN before king Roger III's development program. There was mentioned Beowulf Self Defence Forcesresponsible of Sigma Draconis terminus of the Manticore Wormhole Junction. (SI2, infodump) Tactical Organization Appeared independent tactical units: * Frontier Fleet Task Group 3021 * Madras Sector Detachment, Frontier Fleet * Maya Sector Detachment, Frontier Fleet * Battle Fleet Task Force 496 * Battle Fleet Task Force 891 Strenght The SLN consisted of: * c.a. 1600 ships of wall in active commission in the Battle Fleet, * c.a. 3000-5000 ships of wall in the reservetwo or three times more than in active duty, the vast majority of Battle Fleet's wall of battle was mothballed in vacuum and completely depressurized, ships which were in commission were refitted in a regular maintenance cycle, * even more than 6400the SLN had a higher percentage of light units than the RMN or the People's Navy; according to 1904 PD figures - 81% of the RMN vessels were light ships, the same ratio in the PN was 65% (HH3); it makes c.a. four times more than 1600 Solarian ships of wall light ships in active commission; the tonnage of the Frontier Fleet was substantially biger than 2.3 bln tonnestonnage of the Royal Manticoran Navy in 1904 PD (HH3). (HH3, HH7, SI2, infodump) Duties Main security duties of the SLN were commerce protection, border security, anti-piracy actions and colonial pacification. In twenty century PD all of that tasks were performed very likely by light units of the Frontier Fleet. (WS1, SI1, SI2, infodump) See also: the Office of Frontier Security Policies * Fleet 2000 programme - programme of limited modernization of the SLN connected with strong PR action. (SI2, infodump) * The SLN had no equivalent of the RMN's policy of switching out senior officers to make sure their experience remains current. The senior officers of the SLN were almost all well over a century old, with habits of thought and views of what makes an effective military ship/fleet that were formed when they were in their thirties and forties (and which were formed in the institutional bosom of a fleet which hasn't been to war in centuries). (infodump) * All SLN Battle Fleet procurement decisions were made through the demands of three hundred years old doctrine, not the possibilities offered by new tech which had not yet been fitted into existing doctrineeg. the SLN didn't used as strong and long range missiles like ones at missile pods provided Monican Navy by Technodyne (SI2). (infodump) Marines It is not certain if the Solarian Marines Corps was a part of the SLN or was subjugated to the SLN, however recruitment to the the SLN and to the SMC was performed by the SLN recruiting officersso far appeared a company of the 887th Solarian Marines Regiment within the Maya Sector Detachment, Frontier Fleet (WS1). Ship types and classes * ''Rampart''-class destroyersbecause of numerous refits there were no two units with the same signatures (SI2) * ''War Harvest''-class large destroyers (WS1) * ''Liberty''-class light cruisersprototype for Havenite ''Charles Wade Pope''-class (Jayne's) * class of modern light cruisersat least a company of marine complement (WS1) * ''Mikasa''-class heavy cruisers (SI2) * ''Gladiator''-class heavy cruisers (HHA4, WS1) * ''Indefatigable''-class battlecruisers (SI1, SI2) * ''Nevada''-class battlecruisers (SI1, SI2) * dreadnoughts and superdreadnoughtsin the reserve - the old and manpower-intensive designs Solarian platforms served in other navies also, eg. ships of wall in the Erewhon Navy, light cruisers in the People's Navy, battlecruisers and probably other types in the Monican Navy as well as very likely in the Mesan Space Navylight ships appeared in the Verdant Vista System (WS1). Human Resorces * a hundred years old admirals * corruption connected with procurement * cronyism - First Families of Battle Fleet External Links * David Weber's comments on infodump: ** the Battle of Farley's Crossing ** artificial divisions within the SLN ** effect of tight budgets ** what were the Solarian League Navy financial resources ** how is the Solarian League Navy organized ** Status of the Solarian League Navy ** fighting the massive waves of the SLN * [http://stormfromtheshadows.com/art.htm SLN Nevada-class BC scheme] References Category:Solarian League Navy